Washington, DC— Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement today after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. The historic health reform legislation passed the Senate with 60 votes in December and passed the House last weekend:

“Today we improved the lives of millions of Americans. The numbers of those who will be assisted by this landmark legislation in Nevada alone are staggering. More than 600,000 Nevadans will be able to receive quality, affordable health care to keep themselves and their families healthy. More than 50,000 Nevada seniors will be able to get cheaper prescription drugs. Nevada residents will receive $5 billion in tax credits to purchase private insurance within the first five years of this bill’s enactment. This is a real-life impact for so many Nevadans and Americans.

“There are many people responsible for this long overdue dream becoming reality today. President Obama made this a priority of his administration from day one, and his leadership and vision were invaluable to this effort. Chairmen Baucus, Dodd and Harkin helped shepherd this process in the Senate. Speaker Pelosi and her team of health reform leaders in the House worked with us every step of the way to see this effort through. These colleagues and many others have worked tirelessly to ensure that millions of Americans can have access to quality, affordable health care.

“One person whose vision has guided us at every stage of this process is our dear friend, the late Senator Ted Kennedy. No person in the last half century carried the mantle for health care reform better than Ted, and I know he is proud of us today. My only regret on this great day is that he is not with us to reflect on this achievement.

“We have one more leg of this journey to complete. The Senate has worked closely with the House to make this good bill even better, and we plan to finish our work as soon as possible.

“This is the change that we were sent to Washington to deliver. Senate Democrats remain committed to keeping America on a path to a stronger, more prosperous, more stable future.”